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Showing posts with label Independence Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Independence Day. Show all posts
That everybody’s gone fascist—like Donnie Trump, oh yay!
You’d see them wearing blond hairdos
Doing their sieg heils too
Everybody’s gone fascist! Vichy USA!
(Sung to the tune of Surfin' USA. The rest of the lyrics can be found at the Substack link below.)
by C. A. Matthews
The
1976 Bicentennial was really something. I remember fondly all the
fabulous fireworks displays, huge parades, and special band concerts in
the park. It was nice to think about how the United States had stayed
together and made it a full two hundred years. As a child, I didn’t
really understand what all had happened in those two centuries and how
the US had played a major role in maintaining violence and oppression
both at home and around the world, activities that would lead to the
current fiasco Americans find themselves in fifty years later.
I
would have never thought that the “land of the free” meant that we’d
come to deny immigrants asylum based on their race, religion, or
ethnicity. I probably would have laughed at the mere idea that
well-to-do white South Africans would be considered deserving refugees,
but that poor black Haitians who fled a disintegrating country (helped
to fall apart by greedy Americans) would not.
I would have never thought that locking up thousands of non-violent immigrants was “freedom”, nor that sending young children out of the country without their parents was a compassionate thing to do. These weren’t the concepts of freedom and morality I was indoctrinated in at church and school.
Fifty
years ago, I would have never thought that anti-fascist activists would
be labeled “terrorists” and sentenced to harsh sentences by a federal
judge for trying to point out the crimes of ICE. These are the sentences of the activists who protested at the ICE facility in Texas:
Benjamin Song: 100 years, Marisela Rueda: 70 years, Cameron Arnold: 50
years, Savanna Batten: 50 years, Zachary Evetts: 50 years, Bradford
Morris: 50 years, Elizabeth Soto: 50 years. What essentially are life
sentences for daring to set off fireworks and wearing all black clothing
to a protest, no less.
Meanwhile,
the ICE agents who murdered Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Keith Porter
have received a total of 0 years in prison. You read that right—the ICE
agents responsible received sentences of zero years for their murders of
Renee, Alex, and Keith. The similarities between ICE and the Nazi
Gestapo are undeniable...
To learn more about Vichy USA (and how to shut it down), please copy or click on the following link:
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The story goes that you can boil a live frog, but you have to go about it the right way or else the frog will jump out of the pot. So, you start with the frog not sitting in boiling water, but sitting in a nice, relaxing bath of lukewarm water instead. Then you slowly, slowly turn up the heat under the pot. Since the frog enjoys sitting in their mini-hot tub, they don’t react and just stay there, slowly falling asleep in the hot water until it’s too late. They boil alive.
Not a very pretty picture, is it?
The boiling frog analogy keeps coming to mind whenever I contemplate this past week’s 100 degree plus Fahrenheit temperatures and hazardous 300 air quality index forecasts in the continental US. Americans are definitely in the second frog scenario. We’re happy to sit and relax in our gradually warming hot tub until we’re boiled alive or choked on the dust and pollutants from firestorms. We’re not even trying to hop out of the pot.
Worst yet, we completely trust our boilers, that is, our corrupt status quo politicians. We let them do whatever they like—and they love to please their corporate masters. We all acknowledge that burning fossil fuels has caused this global warming that is, in turn, intensifying the forest fires in Canada and elsewhere.
But we boiling frogs are happy to let our rulers take lobbyists’ money and pass legislation to allow BP, Chevron, Exxon and all the rest to drill for more oil. We’re not fighting back. We’re not hopping out of the pot, even though they’re slowly killing us.
Americans are acting as foolishly as those fatalistic frogs sitting in a pot of boiling water.
What’s wrong with us, America? Did our so-called “Founding Fathers” raise a bunch of wimps? A bunch of collaborators with corporatists? A bunch of Stockholm Syndrome sufferers?
On July the Fourth, this our supposed “Independence Day,” we act like we’re okay with not being...well, independent.
Americans seem to enjoy force-fed propaganda from our government's own version of the dystopian novel 1984’s Ministry of Truth. We’re good listening to and accepting outright lies as long as we’re comfortable in our hot water bath that isn’t quite boiling—yet.
Whenever a politician on a cable news network says, “The economy is doing great!” we take him at his word although we’re struggling to pay bills. Like good little boiling frogs we’ll even consider voting for the idiot! No push back, no demand for him to stop gaslighting us—we’ve convinced ourselves that the status quo always knows what’s best for us, even when it knows jack-shit.
And trust the evil sycophants of the mainstream media to chime in and give their stamp of approval to every half-ass thing our billionaire-bought-and-owned public officials try to pull over on us. Just watch them as they never question these fallacious statements:
“War is peace!” the warmongers claim as the bodies of soldiers and innocent civilians pile up.
“We had to cancel the election/primary in order to save democracy!” the politicians state because they can’t risk an upstart entering the race who could overturn their apple cart of lobbyist money.
“The US has the best medical care in the world!” (That money can buy, that is. Big Pharma lobbyists gave Biden $41 million in 2020 to run for office. Don’t worry—they gave Trump $21 million!)
“What homelessness? What horrible rents?” say the status quo sycophants who have never been hungry or without a bed to sleep in and would never be caught associating with poor Americans who have experienced such a perilous situation.
These quasi-journalists can’t wait to soft pedal their interviews with bigwig politicos and make brownie points with the establishment so they, too, can become a permanent part of that bourgeoisie class. And boiling frogs—I mean, Americans—just keep eating these lies up.
What is wrong with us?Didn’t our ancestors 247 years ago tell British soldiers to get the hell off their land and let them be their own bosses? Americans of today seem to want others to do all the thinking for them, even if it means others’ thinking is boiling us alive. We apparently give no thought to how silly or mentally-incompetent we appear to others, either.
Observing videos of the protests and riots in France this past week, I’m impressed at how much the French don’t act like Americans. They don’t act like boiling frogs (no offense intended) waiting to be eaten. A young man of Algerian descent was killed by police in a suburb of Paris on Tuesday, and the response was explosive before the end of the week.
There are fires and protests in every major city in France. Cars burning. Mayor’s mansions burning. Town halls burning. Police stations burning—as well they should. Seventeen year old Nahel's cold-blooded murder by police was part of a well-established pattern. In recent times, French police have arrested and killed persons of color at an alarming percentage compared to the majority white populace. No one in leadership has addressed this terrible issue. Perhaps now they will.
Three years ago, Americans marched and shouted “Black lives matter!” for a couple of months after the death of George Floyd and then stopped. Why? There are just too many deaths to mourn and protest. After a while they all start to blur together, don’t they? We just send our thoughts and prayers now and get back to sitting in our pot-shaped hot tubs like good little frogs waiting for the water to boil.
Americans don’t stand up for themselves against the corrupt system. We don't want to cause our corporate masters any problems it seems. We don't burn nearly as many things as the French do, or the Belgians, or the Dutch, or the Swiss, or the...
Banks are burning in France.
Can you imagine Americans actually striking back at the bastards at BlackStone who have made it impossible for them to buy a home? I can hear the excuses now:
“Nah, we’re fine with the real estate investment mavens sticking it to us. We’ll just live in our mother’s basement for a few more years until our bankruptcy clears. Hopefully we’ll be able to save up enough money to afford a down payment on a tiny apartment. That is, if we don’t experience a medical emergency that wipes out all our savings before then.”
For pity’s sake, little froggies! Hop out of the pot before you boil and show some backbone!
Mercifully, not all Americans are afraid of their shadow. They do demonstrate courage. The brave protesters of Atlanta’s Cop City (Weelaunee Forest) aren’t acting like boiling frogs. They're in the streets and under the cops’ noses, making their point known. They won’t forget the senseless murder of Tortuguita, one of their own. And yes, the corporate-owned politicians (who have made millions of dollars off this Cop City scheme—don’t let them tell you otherwise) are instructing their bully boys in blue to arrest and charge the protesters with “domestic terrorism.”
Ha! What’s a charge of “domestic terrorism” to a warrior trying to save the planet from the “frog-boilers” of the police/military-industrial complex?
Americans have got to stop being such co-dependents before we cease to exist as a people. Face it—our government and its corporate henchmen don’t give a flying f*** about our collective health and well-being. They’re only in politics for the money. They figure they'll catch a ride on Bezos’ or Musk’s rocket later after they’ve completely destroyed the planet.
We’ve got to treat these villains like our ancestors treated the British soldiers on their soil: We fight them; we push back; we don’t take “no” for an answer. Take hints from the “domestic terrorists” at Cop City, the French, and others. It won’t be easy, but at least we will be choosing life over the slow boiling death these billionaire bastards have planned for us.
Happy Co-Dependence Day, America. Get yourselves out there and start acting like an American Revolutionary from 1776! Learn what true independence is all about. You know you want to, because now you realize you have to. There’s no excuse for us destroying our children’s future. It's time to free the frogs from the pot before it's too late.
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The New
Declaration of Independence (Rewritten slightly by C.A. Matthews)
IN THE STREETS, JULY 4, 2019
The
unanimous Declaration of We The People
When in
the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bands which have connected them with an oppressive class, the
oligarchy, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all human beings are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, democratic
rule should be instituted among humanity, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute a new democratic system of government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. This system of government is commonly known as
democratic socialism, a system that puts the rights and happiness of the
working classes above those who would enslave them economically in a system
that takes away from the workers and gives more rights and economic power to a
small elitist class.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that such perverse governments
that support only a small proportion of the populace at the expense of the
majority long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly all experience hath shown that people are more disposed to
suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed. This happens because apathy has been bred
into our society by the ruling elites, and the weakening of the power to vote for
all citizens has been ongoing since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and recently evident in legislation to force photo identification at the polls and the use of Crosscheck to illegally void voters from the registry.
But
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism--such is
witnessed in our society today-- it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —
Such has been the patient sufferance of the working classes; and such is now
the necessity which constrains them to alter their former corrupt system of government.
The history of the present corrupt cabal of the one-percent is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these workers.
To prove this, let
Facts be submitted to a candid world.
The oligarchs have refused their
Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
The oligarchs have forbidden their
Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, such as Medicare
For All and free provision of education, preschool through college. The ruling elite has
utterly neglected to attend to these important measures and many innocents have died due to little to no adequate healthcare, and many have suffered working long hours for slave-wages because they have found themselves in immense debt from attending college.
The oligarchs have refused to pass
other Laws condemning the gerrymandering of large districts of people, a right
inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
The oligarchs have blocked Net
Neutrality and misused digital technology for the sole purpose of spying on the
citizens for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with their
measures.
The oligarchs have dissolved
Representative Houses repeatedly through worthless legislation, keeping them enthralled to the lobbyist class
to do their bidding to spread the disease of capitalism and oppressing the
rights of the people, especially women and their right to bodily autonomy.
The oligarchs have refused for a
long time, after the passage of Citizens United, to cause others of a higher
moral character to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of representing
the ninety-nine percent, have returned to the People at large meaningless and
deadly laws; the workers remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers
of polluted and unsafe work spaces and unhealthy air, food and water for them
and their families.
The oligarchs have endeavoured to
prevent immigration and asylum-seeking; for that purpose obstructing the Laws
for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations
hither, and raising concentration camps where children are separated from their
families and all are housed in filthy, unsafe and horrendous conditions.
The oligarchs have obstructed the
Administration of Justice by stacking the courts with corrupt cronies of the
capitalists who treat people of color, the poor, the foreigner and women in
particular harshly in the extreme.
The oligarchs have made Judges
dependent on their Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries, thereby encouraging them to decide cases not on
their merits but on how cases may be used to further enrich the elite classes.
The oligarchs have erected a
multitude of New Offices in the Department of Homeland Security, and sent hither swarms of capitalists to harass our people
and make their lives even harsher, by encouraging small businesses to close their doors by offering tax breaks to large corporations that undersell them, thus creating food deserts and further defunding public schools in the inner cities.
The oligarchs have kept among us, in
times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. They
continue to wage Wars for Oil that profit the elites at the expense of the
lives and health of the workers.
The oligarchs have affected to
render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. We live
with militarized policing agencies who are often at the beck and call of Big
Oil and other capitalists.
The oligarchs have combined with
others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving their Assent to their Acts of pretended
Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed
troops among us in the disguise of our local police:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial
from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants--especially
cold-blooded murders of persons of color and other protected statuses:
For cutting off our Trade with certain
parts of the world and instituting unfair trade and labor practices that profit
global capitalists at the expense of workers worldwide:
For imposing Taxes on us without our
Consent by giving the elites tax breaks and other loopholes wherein they profit
from the corrupt system, i.e. through government bailouts and corporate welfare:
For depriving us in many cases, of
the benefit of Trial by Jury and keeping those who cannot make bail imprisoned
for long lengths of time without charge:
For transporting us beyond Seas to
be tried for pretended offences, such as in the case of the journalist Julian Assange and others wrongfully
imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay:
For taking away our City Charters,
abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our
Governments, such as denying the right to citizens' initiative to protect our
Great Lake Erie for further contamination from corporate polluters:
For blocking our own Legislatures,
and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases
whatsoever, no matter what the people declare are their wishes, such as in the
case of a woman's right of choice.
The oligarchs have plundered our seas,
ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people by
the foolish denial of the climate crisis that is harshly affecting the whole of
the planet.
The oligarchs have at this time transported
Armies to foreign lands to accomplish works of death, desolation, and tyranny,
i.e. by attempting to overthrow a duly elected government in Venezuela, and
have already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a
civilized nation.
The oligarchs have constrained our
fellow Citizens by making it so difficult to earn a living that some have felt
to bear Arms for obscene police actions, to become the executioners of their friends
and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
The oligarchs have excited domestic
insurrections amongst us, to divide and conquer us by pitting group against
group in an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions
We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions
have been answered only by repeated injury. A President, whose character is thus
marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a
free people and should be impeached.
Nor have We been wanting in
attentions to our brethren throughout the world. We have warned them from time
to time of attempts by our on legislatures to extend an unwarrantable
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the harsh and sometimes lethal circumstances
of immigration and settlement here.
We, therefore, the Representatives
of the Working Class, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good
People of the ninety-nine percent, solemnly publish and declare, That We the
People are, and of Right, ought to be Free and Independent of capitalist
tyranny, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the elitist class. And
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, what remains of our Fortunes,
and our sacred Honor.
SIGNED: WE THE PEOPLE, THE WORKERS (the 99%) OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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The Trump administration just sent kids BACK to the overcrowded and unsanitary detention camp in Clint, Texas. This is the same camp where kids were urgently removed following horrific revelations: Toddlers denied diapers. Children not being able to shower. No toothbrushes, toothpaste, or even soap. This is cruel and sadistic. There is no reason children should
continue to be held in these inhumane, overcrowded and unsanitary camps.
They should be closed, period. Congress MUST close the camps.
This week's revelations about the Clint, Texas detention camp are SHOCKING even for this administration. Attorneys shared first-hand accounts of what it's like to be in those
camps: Children coughing everywhere. Sobbing toddlers. Children trying
to take care of toddlers. It's unfathomable. These are human rights abuses plain and simple --
and every day that Congress allows them to stay open is a dereliction of
duty. That's why we MUST keep saying it until Congress does it:
We've mobilized our coalition and are working with local partners to
close the camps and will be sure to keep you updated on next steps. Thanks for all you do, Sandra Cordero, Director
Families Belong Together
***
From Friends of the Earth:
Recently
a United Nations report warned that one million plant and animal
species are at risk of extinction -- including bees, butterflies and
other pollinators. A key driver is the widespread use of toxic
pesticides on the food we eat.
Kroger
-- the largest traditional supermarket in the U.S. -- is part of the
problem. The retail giant still sells food grown with toxic pesticides.
Today
is Kroger’s annual shareholder meeting. It’s the perfect time to
pressure the highest decision-makers at the company to stop selling food
grown with toxic pesticides. And they need to feel that pressure from
you, C.A..
Bee-killing
neonicotinoids, monarch-harming glyphosate, and brain-damaging
chlorpyrifos are still widely used in agriculture. This threatens the
pollinators that help us to produce two-thirds of the food crops we eat
everyday.
Imagine
a world without almonds, cucumbers, apples, blueberries and peaches.
That could be the reality if we don’t quickly shift away from toxic
pesticides and toward organic food for all.
These
pesticides are also putting our health at risk. We tested Kroger
apples, spinach, cereal, and beans and found residues of these toxic
pesticides. This means that the food our families buy could be laced
with brain-damaging and cancer-causing pesticides.
Kroger
claims to be a leader in food safety. Its website states that keeping
food safe is “part of everything we do and a condition of working with
Kroger for our suppliers and partners.” If Kroger is truly committed to
selling safe and healthy foods, it needs to take into account the toxic
pesticides present in common grocery items, especially its very own
Kroger-brand foods.
We
know it’s possible for Kroger to eliminate harmful pesticides in its
supply chain. Costco, one of the largest food retailers in the U.S., has
already asked its suppliers to phase out neonicotinoids and
chlorpyrifos from its fruit, vegetables, and garden plants globally.
Across
the country, concerned people like you are swarming Kroger’s phone
lines demanding the company take immediate action and remove
pesticide-laced food from its shelves. We can’t do this without you,
C.A.. Can we count on your support in this fight?
